Freight containers



y 1969 G. w. GOLDER 3,456,830

FREIGHT CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 25, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I mem Gena Umuflm GomeR ad W AG an July 22, 1969 G. w. GOLDER 3,456,830 I FREIGHT CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 25, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 67 74. lm/euTo I GIQALD WILLIAM 601mm July 22, 1969 G. w. GOLDER FREIGHT CONTAINERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 25, 1967 7 m 8 3 m m 7 a Gem wumm sure? 4 mud Kim- July 22, 1969 G. w. GOLDER FREIGHT CONTAINERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 25, 1967 I65 I68 I70 I69 have MTDQ G EALl) (/JILLIAH GOLDR July 22, 1969 G. w.' GOLDER FREIGHT CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 25, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 l vmofii GGQALD 'ILLIAH GOLDHQ Kwd KILL United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 220- 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specification discloses a freight container of the type having a metal frame "which comprises vertical corner pillars, horizontal cantrails between the upper ends of the pillars and horizontal sills between the lower ends of the pillars. At each corner of the frame there is a corner member to which the pillars and cantrails or sills are fixed and each pillar and its associated corner member is provided with complementary interlocking means which are arranged to resist vertical separation of the corner member secured to each pillar. Each complementary interlocking means is disclosed as comprising a tongue carried by the pillar and fitting into a recess in the corner member, the tongue and the recess being shaped to resist the vertical separation of the corner members.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates to freight containers which are used for transferring a lot load from one location to another.

Description of the prior art Previously known freight containers are of box-like construction with a floor, vertical side walls, vertical front and rear walls and a roof. The rear wall comprises a hinged door means to allow access to be gained to the interior of the container. The walls and door means are secured to a frame comprising vertical corner pillars, horizontal cantrails between the upper ends of the pillars and horizontal sills between the lower ends of the pillars and there are corner members which connect the end of each pillar with the sills or cantrails.

Normally, the corner members are in the form of castings and have outer vertical walls which are apertured to receive hooks so that the container may be lifted by a crane and normally the corner castings also have outer horizontal walls which are suitably apertured so that the upper castings can receive the ends of spreader bars by which the container can be lifted from a confined space where access cannot be obtained to the apertures in the vertical walls of the castings.

Heretofore, the pillars have been connected to the corner castings solely by welding and therefore when a container of this construction is lifted by means engaged only in its upper corner castings the entire weight of the container and its contents is suspended from the upper castings and the welded joints between the ends of the corner pillars and said castings are severely stressed so that there is a danger that these joints may collapse or be seriously weakened. In addition, since the lower castings of a container are also unsupported when the container is lifted solely by the upper casting, a similar stress is placed upon the welded joint between the lower ends of the corner pillars and the lower casting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, I provide, in a freight container having a metal frame comprising a vertical pillar "ice at each corner, upper and lower corner members secured to the upper and lower ends of each pillar respectively, horizontal sills connecting the lower corner members and horizontal cantr-ails connecting the upper corner members, the improvement comprising the provision of complementary interlocking means on each corner member and the corner pillar to which it is secured, said interlocking means acting to resist vertical separation of the corner members secured to each pillar.

By this provision, when a container embodying the invention is lifted by the upper corner members, the stress in the joints between the pillars and the corner members is taken at least partly by the complementary interlocking means on the pillars and the corner members so that there is much less danger of collapse of the container. Similarly the stress which occurs between the lower ends of the pillars and the lower corner members is also at least partly taken by the complementary interlocking means between the pillars and the corner members.

Preferably each complementary interlocking means includes a tongue carried by the pillar and a recess in the corner member, said tongue having a head portion at its free end and a stern portion having a width which is less than that of the head portion, said recess being shaped closely to receive a tongue. When the container is lifted, therefore, part of the resulting stress is taken by the interengagement of the tongue and the recess.

Some of the corner pillars may be provided, at each end, with two tongues lying in planes at right angles to one another, the tongues engaging in corresponding recesses in each corner member. Other of the corner pillars may be provided with but a single tongue at each end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING An embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container embodying the invention with one of the side walls partly removed;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the corner construction at the rear right-hand corner of the container of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 of the corner construction at the right-hand front corner of the container looked at in the direction of the arrow A in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a detail section through an upper corner casting showing the means of fixing the roof panel thereto;

FIGURE 5 is a section through one of the upper cantrails showing the fixing of the roof thereto;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGURE 1, the container indicated generally at 10 has a pair of opposed side walls, 11, a rear wall 12 and a front wall, which is not shown. The side walls 11 and the front wall are fixed and are of similar construction but the rear wall 12 is provided by two hinged doors 13 which are pivotal about vertical axes at their outer edges. The container is completed by a floor 14 and by a roof 15.

At each vertical corner of the container there is a pillar and the two corner pillars are indicated at 16 and one of the front pillars is indicated at 17, there being a similar corner pillar at the other edge of the front wall.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, this shows the construction at the right-hand rear corner of the container shown in FIGURE 1. The rear corner pillar 16 comprises a channel section member 18 and a member 19 which has a cranked cross-section. The channel section member 18 has a base wall 20 and two parallel side walls 21 and 22 which are at right-angles to the base wall 20. The member 19 has an inner wall 23 which is parallel to the base wall 20 and also a Z-shaped Wall 24 extending between the inner wall 23 and the base wall 20. The Z-shaped wall 24 has wall portions 25 and 26 which are parallel to the side wall 21 and 22 and has a further wall portion 27 which is parallel to the base wall 20. A channel 28 is formed between the side wall 21 and the wall portion 26. The inner wall 19 projects beyond the side wall 22 to provide a flange 29.

At its upper end, the pillar 16 has a tongue indicated generally at 30 having a head 31 which is generally square in shape and which is connected to the base wall 20 by means of a stem 32 which is of lesser Width than the head 31 so that recesses 33 are provided between the head 31 and the upper edge 34 of the base wall 20.

At the lower end of the pillar there is a tongue 35 which is similar to the tongue 30 having a head 36 and a stem 37 which is of lesser width than the head 36. Recesses 38 are provided between the head 36 and the lower edge 39 of the base wall 20.

The upper and lower ends of the corner pillar 16 are connected respectively to upper and lower corner castings 48 and 41. Each corner casting is a unitary casting which is generally in the form of a box and which has integral lugs extending from three sides thereof and a recess formed in a fourth side thereof.

Referring in detail to the upper corner casting 40, it has four generally vertical sides 42, 43, 44 and 45. The side 42 has a lower portion 46 which stands proud of an upper portion 47, there being. an inclined shoulder 48 between the portions. Similarly, the side 43 has a lower portion 49 which stands proud of an upper portion 50, the portions being connected by an inclined shoulder 51.

Formed in the side 43 is a recess indicated generally at 52, the recess being formed mainly in the lower portion 49 but extending into the upper portion 50. The recess is defined by two side walls, one of which is indicated at 53 and at the bottom by two shoulders 54 which define between them a mouth 55. The base of the recess is indicated at 56. The recess is dimensioned to receive the tongue 30 and the mouth 55 to receive the stem 32 so that the tongue and stem are close fits in the recess and mouth respectively. It will be seen that the depth of the recess is greater than the thickness of the tongue 30 so that when the latter is received therein it will be inset from the mouth of the recess which lies in the planes of the upper and lower wall portions 49 and 50. The base 56 of the recess is provided with an oval hole 57 which extends through into a hollow interior of the casting and the tongue 30 is provided with a similar hole 58 which is aligned with the hole 57 when the tongue is received in the recess.

The wall 42 of the casting has, in its lower portion 46, a hole 57a which extends into the hollow interior of the casting and the base of the casting can be seen through the hole at 59. The top of the casting is flat and is indicated at 60 and has a central and generally oval hole 61 which passes through to the interior of the casting.

Projecting downwardly from the base of the casting is a lug indicated generally at 62 and which comprises two generally triangular gussets 63 which are interconnected by a Wall 64. The lug 62 is dimensioned to fit within the upper end of the corner pillar 16 between the base wall 20 of the channel section member 18 and the inner wall 23 of the member 19 of cranked section. When the lug 62 is in position within the end of the pillar, it may be held therein by two pins 65 which may be driven into aligned apertures, not shown, in the inner wall 23 and the vertical wall 64. Flats 66 are provided at the ends of the gussets and these flats engage the inner surface of the base wall 20 of the channel member 18. As will hereinafter be described, the pillar is also welded to the casting 40.

The lower casting 41 is also of generally box-like construction and has a top 66, vertical sides 67, 68, 69 and 70 and a base 71 which has an aperture 71a therein. The top 66 of the casting 41 carries a lug 72 which is identical to the lug 62 carried by the casting 40. The vertical wall 73 of the lug 71 has holes 73a to receive pins driven through aligned holes, one of which is shown at 73b, in the pillar 16.

The wall 67 of the casting 41 has a recess indicated generally at 272 defined by side walls, one of which is shown at 273, a base 74, a lower wall 75 and a pair of shoulders 76 which define between them a mouth 77. The recess 272 is dimensioned to receive the tongue 35 so that the tongue is a close fit in the recess and so that the stem 37 is received in the mouth 77 with a shoulder 76 being received in the recesses 38. The base 74 of the recess is provided with an aperture 78 of oval shape and the tongue 35 is provided with a similar aperture 79', the apertures 78 and 79 being aligned when the tongue 35 is received in the recess 72.

The construction, as thus far described, comprises a corner edge of the container and to assemble the corner pillar 16 with the castings 40 and 41, the tongues 30 and 35 are entered into the recesses 52 and 272 and the shoulders 54 and 76 received in the recesses 33 and 38 so that there is a mechanical connection between the ends of the pillar and the castings which interconnection resists the separation of the castings. The pillar and castings are connected together firstly by driving pins through the aligned holes in the lugs 62 and 72 and the inner wall 23 and then holding the pins in position by welding and also by welding around the edges of each tongue 30 and 35 and also welding around the upper and lower edges 34 and 39 of a pillar where they meet the base 59 and top 66 of the castings respectively. The rear corner at the left of the container in FIGURE 1 is of substantially identical construction except that the corner castings are handed to suit.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, this shows the construction at one of the front corners of the container. Each front corner pillar 17 comprises an inner member 78 of angle section and an outer member 79 which is also basically of angle section and which has flanges 80 at the free edges of its limbs. The limbs 81 of the member 78 are wider than the limbs 82 of the member 79 so that flanges 83 are provided outside the flanges 80 and at right angles thereto.

At each of its upper and lower ends, each limb 82 is provided with a tongue, the upper tongues being indicated at 84 and 85 and the lower tongues at 86 and 87. The tongues 84 and 87 are identical, each having a head 88 and a stem 89 of lesser width than the head 88 so that recesses 90 are provided between the heads and the upper and lower edges 91 and 92 respectively of the right-hand limb 82. In each tongue 84 and 87 there is an oval hole 93.

The tongues 85 and 86 are similar to the tongues 84 and 87 except that the holes 94 and 95 in the tongues 85 and 86 are of slightly difierent shape from the hole 93.

The upper corner casting at the front indicated at 96 is substantially identical to the corner casting 40 shown in FIGURE 2 except that it has no depending lug such as the lug 62 on the corner casting 40. The corner casting 96 has two recesses 97 and 98 in two of its Walls at right angles and these recesses are dimensioned closely to receive the tongues 84 and 95 in a manner similar to that described with relation to FIGURE 2.

The lower corner at the front, which is indicated at 98 is similar to the casting 41 except for the following. Firstly, the top 99 as a casting does not have any lug such as the lug 72. Secondly, two walls of the casting indicated at 100 and 101 have recesses indicated at 102 and 103 respectively and which are dimensioned to receive the tongues 86 and 87. The recesses 102 and 103 have apertures 104 and 105 in their bases which are shaped to correspond to the apertures 93 and 95 in the tongues 86 and 87 respectively. Similarly the bases of the recesses 97 and 98 have apertures 106 and 107 shaped to correspond to the apertures 93 and 94 in the tongues 84 and 85 respectively.

Each front corner of the container is formed by assembling together a front corner pillar such as 17 with two front corner castings 96 and 98. This is effected by assembling the tongues 84 and 85 in the recesses 97 and 98 in the upper corner casting and then welding around the edges of the tongues. Similarly the lower end of the pillar 17 has its tongues 86 and 87 engaged in the recesses 102 and 103 and then welded in position. It will be noted that in each case there are shoulders similar to the shoulders 54 and 76 of FIGURE 2 which engage in recesses between the tongues and the upper and lower edges 91 and 92 of the outer member 79 so as to resist separating movement of the castings. The upper casting 96 has a generally oval aperture 108 in its top and the lower casting 98 has an aperture 109 in its base which is also generally oval. The construction at the front right-hand corner of the container is substantially as shown in FIG- URE 3 except that it is handled accordingly.

The corner pillars with their attached castings are connected by sills and cantrails. Thus, referring to FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3 there is a lower sill 110 extending between the lower corner castings 41 and 98 and there is an upper cantrail 111 extending between the upper corner castings 40 and 96. On the other side of the container, which is not shown, there is a similar sill and cantrail. Extending between the upper rear corner castings 40 there is a rear cantrail 112 and extending between the lower rear corner castings 41 there is a lower sill 113. The sectional shapes of the cantrails 111 and 112 and the sills 110 and 113 are shown in FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 3, each lower sill 110 is of generally channel-section having a lower horizontal limb 114, an upper horizontal limb 115 and an intermediate web 116. Welded to the upper surface of the upper horizontal limb 115 is an angle section member 117 having a vertical flange 118. The lower corner casting 41 is provided with a lug 119 of a section to fit closely within the sill 110 and the lug is secured therein by means of pins 120 which are driven through aligned holes 121 and 122 in the sill and lug respectively. The sill is also welded to the corner casting around the end of the sill. Referring to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that the other end of the sill 110 fits onto a lug 123 on the corner casting 98 and is secured thereto by means of pins 124 passing through aligned holes in the sill and the lug and is then welded thereto. FIGURE 3 also shows a sill 125 of section identical to the sill 110 and which extends between a lug 126 on the lower corner casting 98 and a similar lug on the corner casting at the lower end of the other front corner of the container. The sill 125 is secured to the corner casting by means of pins 127 passing through aligned holes in the sill and the corner casting and also by welding the sill to the corner casting.

The sill 113 at the rear of the container is of somewhat different section to the sills 110 and 125 since it has to receive the lower edges of the hinged doors 13. Referring to FIGURE 2, the sill 113 has a lower horizontal portion 128, an upper horizontal portion 129, a vertical portion 130 extending upwardly from the horizontal portion 128 and a horizontal portion 131 and a vertical portion 132 between the portions 130 and 129. There is a further vertical portion 133 and a horizontal portion 134. The lower corner casting 41 has a lug 135 which fits within the end of the sill and its upper surface is engaged by the horizontal portions 131 and 134 while the outer vertical surface 136 of the lug is engaged by the inner surface of the vertical portion 130. The lug and sill are connected together by pins 138 driven through aligned apertures in the vertical portion and the vertical surface 16 of the lug and also by welding the lug to the corner casting.

The cantrail 111 is of the section shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 having a vertical portion 139, an upper horizontal flange 140, a lower horizontal flange 141 and a lower' vertical flange 142. At its free edge, the upper horizontal flange is provided with a vertical portion 144 which leads to a narrow horizontal portion or shelf 145. The corner casting 40 is provided with a lug 146 which is shaped to fit within the end of the cantrail and to fit inside the vertical portion 144. The cantrail is secured to the lug by means of pins 148 which are driven into aligned holes in the vertical portion 139 and the lug 146 and the end of the contrail is also welded to the corner casting. FIGURE 3 shows that the upper corner casting 94 has a lug 149 similar to the lug 146 to receive the other end of the cantrail 111 which is secured to the lug 149 in a manner similar to that which it is secured to the lug 146. FIGURE 3 also show a further cantrail 150 of identical section to the cantrail 11 and which extends between the two upper corner castings at the front of the container, the cantrail being secured to lugs, such as that indicated at 151 on the corner castings by drive pins 152 as described above and by welding.

The cantrail 112 at the rear of the container is of somewhat dilferent shape from the cantrails 111 and 150 since it has to receive the upper edges of the doors 13. The cantrail is of generally box-section but has a hollow horizontal flange 153 at its upper edge and a rather wider shallower vertical flange 154 at its lower edge. The cantrail is secured to a lug 156 on the corner casting 40 and to a similar lug on the other upper rear corner casting by drive pins 157 as described above and also by welding.

As described above, it will be seen that an Open sixsided frame can be made by assembling each corner pillar with its associated corner casting as described above and then by pinning and welding the sills and cantrails to the corner castings also as described above. The resulting frame is then fitted with doors 13 at its rear end and is clad on the sides 11 and the front and provided with a roof and a floor as will now be described. Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, each of the sides 11 and the front of the container comprises an inner sheet of plywood 158 which is secured to the inner surfaces of the upper and lower flanges 142 and 118 respectively, an outer sheet of aluminium 159 which is secured to the outer surfaces of the flanges 142 and 118 and a series of top-hat sections of aluminium 160 which are riveted to the panels 158 and 159 and also to the flanges 118 and 142. As is shown in FIGURE 5, a cranked finishing strip 161 is riveted to the lower end of the portion 139 to restrict the ingress of water into the interiors of the top-hat sections 160.

At its read end, each wall 10 is secured to the flanges 29 of the pillar 16 and the front end of each wall 10 is secured to the flange 83 of its front corner pillar 17. The front wall is secured at its ends to the flanges 83 of corner pillar 17 and its upper and lower edges are secured to the vertical flanges of the sill 125 and the contrail 150 as described in relation to the sides 11.

The floor 14 of the container may be made of planks 162 as shown in FIGURE 2 which are laid to rest on the upper flanges 163 of generally channel-section crossmembers 164 which fit between the sills 110 and rest on the lower limbs thereof, the cross-members being close fits within the sills 110.

The roof of the container which is indicated generally at 15 comprises a single outer panel 165 of metal which is fixed at the corners of the container and around the edges as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. Referring to these figures, the roof panel 165 has a depending flange 166 around the whole of its periphery. At each corner casting, the flange overlies the upper edge thereof and is received against the upper portions of the side walls of the corner casting such as indicated in FIGURE 2 at 47 and 50. As shown in FIGURE 2, at each corner, the outer panel is provided with an aperture 167 which is arranged to be aligned with an aperture 61 or 108 in the corner castings supporting a panel at that corner. At each corner there is provided a wearing plate 168 which is provided with an aperture 169 to align with the apertures 167 and 61 or 108 and around the aperture 169 there is provided an inturned flange 170 which fits into the aperture 61 or 108 in the corner casting and rests on a peripheral shoulder 171 provided therein. The wearing plate is welded to the shoulder as indicated at 172 and the roof panel 165 is sandwiched between the wearing plate and a corner casting as clearly indicated at FIGURE 4. The wearing plate has, around the sides thereof, a peripheral flange 173 which overlies the flange 166 for a short distance from each corner of the container.

Underneath the outer panel 165 of the roof there is arranged a corrugated panel 174 shown in FIGURE 5 and which rests on, and is riveted to, the lower horizontal flanges 141 of the cantrails 111 and 150. The corrugated panel 174 supports the outer panel 165.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, the doors 13 are mounted for pivotal movement about their outer edges by conventional hinges which are indicated generally at 175. The hinges are received in the channels 28 in the corner pillars 16. The doors also have conventional locking means indicated generally at 176.. Referring to FIGURES 6 and 7, the sealing between the mating edges of the doors 13 comprises two generally channel-shaped members 177 of neoprene each of which has one limb harder than the other so that the softer limb is compressed by the harder limb when the doors are shut. This forms the subject matter of my co-pending British patent application No. 34,558/67. A guard strip 178 is secured to one of the doors 13 to overlie the seal.

Around the remaining edges of the door the seal is as shown, by way of example in FIGURE 7, which shows the sealing around one of the vertical outer edges. The member of cranked section 19 is provided, in the corner between wall portions 25 and 27, with a sealing strip 179 which engages the inner corner 180 of each door and the door itself is provided with a Z-shaped member 181 which engages with the wall portion 27 when the door is shut. Similar sealing takes place around the upper and lower edges of the doors.

It will be seen that the invention provides a freight container in which there is a mechanical connection between each of the corner pillars and the corner castings, such mechanical connection resisting the spreading of the corner castings when the container is lifted. Greater strength is given to the joints between the sills and cantrails of the container and the corner castings by pinning as well as welding and, where desired, the drive pins may be secured in position by welding over their edges.

Various modifications of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. Thus the .floor 14 may be made of sheets of material rather than planks and the wall claddings may be formed with a greater or lesser number of panels as desired and the materials from which the panels are made may be varied as required. The tongues at the ends of the corner pillars may have different shapes from that shown. The tongues may, for example, be fishtailed rather than square.

The container has been described above as having the corner members or castings welded to the sills and cantrails. However, the sills and cantrails could be bolted or riveted to the corner members, especially where the sills and cantrails are aluminium extrusions. A riveted construction will now be described with reference to FIGURE 8 which shows a construction suitable for the 8 rear, left-hand corner of the container shown in FIG- URE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 8, the corner construction there shown comprises a pillar which is identical to the pillar 16 of FIGURES 1 and 2. At its lower end the pillar engaged with a corner casting 181 and its upper end with a corner casting 182. These corner castings are identical to the corner castings 41 and 40 respectively except that extending from a vertical wall the corner casting 181 has a tongue 183 in the form of a flat plate and which replaces the lug 119 on the corner casting 41. Similarly, the corner casting 182 has a flat, plate-like tongue 184 extending from vertical face thereof and replacing the lug 146 of the corner casting 40. An upper, rear cantrail 185 and a lower rear sill 186 are similar to the cantrail 112 and sill 113 in FIGURE 2 and are secured to the corner castings 181 and 182 in a manner similar to the manner in which the cantrail and sill 112 and 113 are secured to the corner castings 40 and 41.

The lower side sill is indicated at 187 and is in the form of an aluminium extrusion. The sill is generally of channel section having a lower flange 188 and an upper flange 189, the flanges being joined by a web 190. The web is formed with a recess 191 so as to provide two rails 192, extending respectively along the upper and lower edges of the web 190. Extending upwardly from the flange 189 is a vertical flange indicated generally at 194 and which has a rebated portion 195. The side sill 187 is secured to the corner casting by means of two gusset plates indicated generally at 196 and 197. The gusset plate 196 has a generally trapezoidal portion 198 which has a vertical edge 199 which, in the assembled container, is welded to the pillar 180. The gusset plate has a lower portion 200 which is offset by a joggle 201 from the portion 198 in the plate so that when the lower portion of the plate abuts the inner surface of the flange 194, the surface 203 of the gusset plate is flush with the surface 204 of the flange 194.

The gusset plate 197 has a generally trapezoidal portion 205 and a flange 206 which is at right angles thereto. The trapezoidal portion has a cut-out 207 and is arranged so that the vertical portion 206 fits within the channel of the sill 187 and engages the inner surface of the web 190. The part of the flange 189 in side the flange 194 is removed from the part 209 to the edge of the sill to give clearance to the gusset plate 197 and the two gusset plates 196 and 197 are welded together along the bottom edge of the plate 196 as indicated at 210. The gusset plate 197 is arranged to be pinned by pins 211 to the tongue 183 and is, in the finished construction, Welded along the edges 212 and 213 to the corner casting and is also welded along the edge 214 to the lower rear sill 186. The vertical portion 206 of the gusset plate 197 is arranged to be rivetted at 215 by, for example, twelve rivets in two rows to the web of the side sill 187. The gusset plate 196 is rivetted at 216, by, for example, six rivets to the flange 194. The upper edge 217 of the gusset plate 196 is welded to the lower edge of an angle member 218 is secured to the pillar 180.

Referring now to the upper corner, the upper side cantrail is indicated generally at 219 and comprises a vertical web 220 having an upper outer flange 223 which terminates in a downward flange 224. The cantrail is secured to the corner casting 182 by means of a gusset plate which is indicated generally at 225. The gusset plate has a generally trapezoidal portion 226 which is horizontal and which has a cut-out 227 to receive the corner casting. The gusset plate has an intermediate vertical portion 228 and a lower portion 229 which is offset from the plane of the portion 228 by means of a joggle 230. The vertical portion 228 lies against the inner surface of the cantrail (the intermediate inner flange being relieved as necessary). The portion 226 of plate 225 is pinned to the tongue 185 by pins 233 and is welded to the corner casting along the edges 234 and along part of 9 the edge 235, the lower part of said latter edge being welded to the pillar 180.

The gusset plate 225 is connected to the cantrail 219 by means of twelve rivets, some of which are indicated at 236, and which pass through the vertical portion 228 and the flange 220. The gusset plate 225 is welded to the upper rear cantrail 185 along the edge 237 and the lower portion 229 of the gusset plate is welded at 238 to the upper end of the angle member 218.

It will be seen from the foregoing description of FIG- URE 8 that the corner castings 181 and 182 have interlocking connections with the pillar 180 as has been described in detail in relation to FIGURE 2 and that the side sills and cantrails are connected to the corner castings by rivetting and by gusset plates which are welded and pinned to the castings and also welded to the corner pillars and the rear sill and rear cantrail. Similar constructions are provided at the front corners of the container except that each front pillar has two tongues at each end as described in relation to FIGURE 3.

The container may be lifted by engagement of hooks or spreader bars in the various apertures in the corner castings to which access is given, where necessary, through the corresponding apertures in the tongues of the corner pillars. The apertures in the tops of the upper corner castings can receive spreader bars so that the corresponding apertures in the wear plates and outer roof panel and the apertures in the bases of the lower corner castings can be used to receive means for interconnecting two containers together when the latter are superposed.

I claim:

1. In a freight container having a metal frame comprising a vertical pillar at each corner, upper and lower corner members secured to the upper and lower ends of each pillar respectively, horizontal sills connecting the lower corner members, and horizontal cantrails connecting the upper corner members, the improvement comprising the provision of complementary interlocking means on each corner member and pillar to which it is secured, said interlocking means acting to prevent vertical separation of the corner member secured to each pillar and, at each corner, including a tongue carried by the pillar and a recess in the corner member, said tongue having a head portion at its free end and a stem portion having a width which is less than that of the head portion and said recess being shaped closely to receive said tongue.

2. A freight container according to claim 1 wherein the depth of each recess is greater than the thickness of the tongue so that when the tongue is received therein it is inset from a face of the corner member.

3. A freight container according to claim 1 wherein at at least some of the vertical pillars are each provided with a pair of tongues at each of their upper and lower. ends, said tongues being arranged in planes at right-angles to each other and being received in corresponding recesses in the corner members.

4. A freight container according to la'im 1 wherein some of the vertical pillars are provided with only a single tongue at each of their upper and lower ends.

4. A freight container according to claim 1 wherein each of at least some of the corner members is provided with a vertical lug which is received within the end of a pillar and is secured thereto.

6. A freight container according to claim 5 wherein said lug is pinned and welded to the vertical pillar in which it is received.

7. A freight container according to claim 1 wherein each corner member includes two lugs which project at right-angles to each other, each lug being received in the end of one of a sill and a cantrail and fixed thereto.

8. A freight container according to claim 7 wherein the sills and cantrails are welded to the corner members and pinned to the lugs thereof.

9. A freight container according to claim 7 including gusset plates riveted to at least some of the sills and cantrails and welded to the corner members.

10. A freight container according to claim 1 wherein the container has side walls and wherein the corner members have outer walls which project beyond said side Walls.

11. A freight container according to claim 1 wherein the container includes a roof which comprises an outer panel having a peripheral flange which overlaps the corner members and the cantrails.

12. A freight container according to claim 11 wherein the roof also includes a corrugated panel supported by the cantrails within the outer panel.

13. A freight container according to claim 11 wherein the roof also includes a plurality of cross-members of top-hat section supported by the cantrails under the outer panel.

14. A freight container according to claim 11, including a wearing plate mounted above each upper corner member and wherein at each upper corner said outer roof panel is sandwiched between the corner member and the wearing plate, the wearing plate being welded to the corner member.

15. In a freight container having a metal frame comprising a vertical pillar at each corner, upper and lower corner members secured to the upper and lower ends of each pillar respectively, horizontal sills connecting the lower corner members, and horizontal cantrails connecting" the upper corner members, the improvement comprising the provision, at each said corner, of complementary interlocking means on the corner member and the pillar to which it is secured, said interlocking means comprising a projection on the pillar, a recess in the corner member and in which the projection is received, a first abutment surface on the projection facing away from the free end of the projection and a second abutment surface in the recess facing towards said free end, said first and second abutment surfaces interengaging to prevent vertical separation of the pillar and the corner member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,980,285 4/1961 Parsons 22084 3,162,320 12/1964 Hitch 220-15 X GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 

